Sanofi to outsource antiinfectives R&D to Evotec

Under the deal, Sanofi wants to licence its early stage antimicrobial development programmes (more than 10), and transfer its antifectives unit in Lyon to the Hamburg-based drug discovery company, while retaining option rights for development and commercialisation. The deal includes the transfer of the unit’s 100 antiinfective experts to Evotec, who will be integrated for a time-frame of at least 5 years. The companies announced that Evotec, a portfolio company of Novo Holdings, which recently created an AMR investment fund, will create an open-innovation platform in Lyon, open to academia, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, foundations, and government agencies. As part of the deal, Evotec is eglible to receive a €60m upfront payment. The transaction does not include Sanofi’s vaccine R&D unit.

The announcement marks a surprising end to Sanofi’s previous committment to re-enter the anti-infectives field. In 2014, Sanofi had entered a colloboration with the Fraunhofer Society, to screen its 130,000 natural compound library to identify novel leads against antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria in a new Natural Product Center of Excellence. In 2016, the French pharma major together with 12 Big Pharma companies founded the AMR Industry Alliance and with by 85 companies and 11 industry associations signed an industry declaration to contribute in the fight against antimicrobial resistance at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

However, under the outsourcing deal, Sanofi will provide significant long-term funding to have its drug portfolio driven forward by Evotec and collaborators. Sanofi will also retain certain option rights on the development, manufacturing and commercialisation of anti-infective products.

Evotec will combine its drug discovery and development expertise with these new assets and experts, committing to the expansion and acceleration of anti-infective drug discovery and development. Dr Werner Lanthaler, Chief Executive Officer of Evotec, said: "Finding a way to motivate more public funding and academic initiatives for the progress of novel anti-infectives on Evotecs' platform will be a key success factor for this initiative." In recent times, Evotec has built an interesting portfolio of anti-infectives. In 2014, the drug discovery and development company acquired Euprotec (UK). Evotec established a partnership with Forge Therapeutics, which develops LpxC-targeting antifectives with financial support of the CARB-X initiative.

The transaction is part of Sanofi’s strategic focus on areas such as blood disorders or orphan diseases where the company wants to become a global top-five leader.